Holder for displaying a sheet of material

ABSTRACT

A holder for displaying a sheet of material is provided. The holder includes a back plate; a front plate configured for being removably received by the back plate; a display area defined by the front plate configured to display a sheet of material; and at least one stopper configured for being removably received within an opening of the back plate. The at least one stopper is friction fit between the front plate and the back plate. The at least one stopper makes friction contact with the lip portion and the front plate when the at least one stopper is friction fit between the front plate and the back plate. The at least one stopper prevents movement of the front plate when the at least one stopper is friction fit between the front plate and the back plate.

RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application is related to a patent application filed on Sep.28, 2006 and assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 11/529,042, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,954,267 titled “Holder for Displaying a Sheet of Material”;the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to display devices. More particularly,the present disclosure relates to a holder for displayinginterchangeable sheets of material including display components whichcan be removably inserted into the holder for enabling a plurality ofdisplay options. The holder includes at least one stopper which isinserted into a rear surface of the holder and forced against a fronttransparent plate, such as a glass or plastic, of the holder for lockingthe front plate and preventing movement thereof.

2. Background of the Related Art

When displaying information such as, for example, an advertisingdisplay, display holders are used to receive the advertising materialtherein. One requirement for these holders is that they must be able tofirmly secure the material received within the holder. However, it isnecessary to be able to quickly and easily change or replace the displaymaterial in the holder, for example when advertising material needs tobe updated. It is also necessary to quickly and easily change thedisplay/retaining area of the holder that may have been damaged duringuse or to alter the appearance of the display, e.g., the tint or colorof the display area through which advertising material is viewed.Problems with known display holders are that it may be difficult to dothis. Another problem is that a movable front transparent plate, such asa glass or plastic, is free to move after the display material ismounted to the holder

It is accordingly an aspect of the present disclosure to provide aholder suitable for displaying a sheet of material which overcomes theproblems noted above.

SUMMARY

A holder for displaying a sheet of material is provided having a backplate and a transparent front plate. The back plate defines a groove forslidably receiving the front plate therein. The back plate includesmeans for mounting the holder to a support surface such as a wall ordoor. The means for mounting can include at least one adhesive. At leastone locking member is included on the back plate in the form of astopper configured to be inserted through a hole in the back plate. Thestopper is inserted within the hole and forced against the front platewhen the front plate is aligned with the back plate to secure the frontplate in a closed position to allow for viewing of the sheet of materialtherethrough. The stopper can be secured within the hole via tape,sticker or other adhesive applied to the rear end of the stopper and theback plate.

In an embodiment, a holder for displaying a sheet of material isprovided. The holder includes a back plate; a front plate configured forbeing removably received by the back plate; a display area defined bythe front plate configured to display a sheet of material; and at leastone stopper configured for being removably received within an opening ofthe back plate. The at least one stopper is friction fit between thefront plate and the back plate. The at least one stopper makes frictioncontact with the lip portion and the front plate when the at least onestopper is friction fit between the front plate and the back plate. Theat least one stopper prevents movement of the front plate when the atleast one stopper is friction fit between the front plate and the backplate.

In another embodiment, a central portion of the stopper includes agroove for allowing the sheet of material to slide through the grooveand thereby, prevent the sheet of material from being blocked by thestopper as it is inserted between the back plate and the front plate.

Still, in another embodiment of the present disclosure, the holder canbe packaged as a kit having several back plates and several removablefront plates. The front plates and/or the back plates can be differentcolors, tints, etc. to enable replacement thereof with another frontplate and/or back plate from the kit. Additionally, multiple sizevariations are envisioned, vertical and horizontal dimensions of thebracket, front plate, back plate, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Particular embodiments of the presently disclosed holder are describedherein with reference to the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a holder fordisplaying a sheet of material, in accordance with the principles of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a front view of the holder shown in FIG. 1 illustrating aremovable front plate attached to the back plate;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the holder shown in FIG. 1illustrating the back plate;

FIG. 4 shows a side view of the holder shown in FIG. 1 with the backplate and front plate assembled;

FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view of the holder shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5B is an enlarged view of the identified region shown in FIG. 5A;

FIG. 6 shows a front perspective, exploded view of the front plate, theback plate and the stoppers of the holder shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 shows a back perspective view of the holder shown in FIG. 1,showing insertion of the stoppers;

FIG. 8 shows a front view of the front plate of the holder shown in FIG.1, illustrating notches therein for aligning with the stoppers; and

FIGS. 9A and 9B show phantom, front perspective views of the holdershown in FIG. 1, illustrating movement of the front plate with respectto the back plate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments of the presently disclosed holder aredescribed below in detail with reference to the drawings, in which likereference numerals designate identical or corresponding elements in eachof the several views.

Referring to FIG. 1-9B, there is shown a holder for displaying a sheetof material therein according to an embodiment of the present disclosuregenerally identified by reference numeral 100. As shown in FIG. 1, theholder 100 includes a display area A which is defined by a front plate102 through which a sheet of material 104 is viewed. The front plate 102may be generally square in shape and constructed from any one of severalclear or transparent materials as is necessary for viewing the sheet ofmaterial therethrough. The front plate 102 can be a magnifying lens. Thefront plate 102 can also be tinted.

The holder 200 further includes a back plate 106 for mounting to asupport surface (not shown) via an adhesive, such as the adhesive strips110 shown by FIGS. 3 and 7. As can be seen in FIG. 6, the front plate102 is removable from the back plate 106 to enable changing of the frontplate 102 and/or the sheet of material 104. The back plate 106 is shownin detail in FIGS. 3, 6 and 7 and includes a couple of openings 112 eachconfigured to receive a stopper 114 for securing the front plate 102 tothe back plate 106 after full insertion of the front plate 102 withinthe back plate 106 as shown by FIGS. 1, 4, 7 and 9A.

Each stopper 114 is inserted within an opening 112 of the back plate 106from the rear of the back plate 106. Each stopper 114 traverses a rearpanel 116 of the back plate 106 and a notch 118 formed on an edge 120 ofthe front plate 102 (see FIG. 8). A front end 122 of each stopper 114contacts a lip portion 124 of the back plate 106 as shown by thecross-sectional view of FIG. 5A. Each stopper 114 is friction fitbetween the front plate 102 and the back plate 106. That is, sidesurfaces 126 of each stopper 114 make friction contact with the frontplate 102 at locations B and C shown by FIG. 5A. The friction contactsecures the front plate 102 to the back plate and thereby, prevents thefront plate 102 from sliding along a track 128 defined by each lipportion 124 of the back plate 106.

An adhesive, such as adhesive tape, may be affixed to the rear panel 116of the back plate 106 overlaying a rear end 130 of each stopper 114. Theadhesive applies a force against each stopper 114 to force the front end122 of each stopper 114 against an inner surface 132 of the lip portion124 and the side surface 126 of each stopper against the front plate 102at locations B and C shown by FIGS. 5A and 5B.

When each stopper 114 is fully inserted within the holder 100, the rearend 130 is flush with the rear panel 116 of the back plate 106. Tounlock the front plate 102 from the back plate 106, each stopper 114 isremoved from the holder 100. This enables the front plate 102 to slidewithin the track 128 of the holder 100 as shown by FIGS. 9A and 9B. Atactile and/or audio feedback may be generated by includes structure asdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,954,267 issued on Jun. 7, 2011, the entirecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

By sliding along the track 128, the front plate 102 slides into an openposition (see FIG. 9B) to enable insertion or removal of the sheet ofmaterial 104. In this manner, the front plate 102 and/or the sheet ofmaterial 104 may be removed and/or replaced, changed, cleaned, etc.

In an embodiment, a central portion of the stopper 114 includes a groovefor allowing the sheet of material 104 to slide through the groove andthereby, prevent the sheet of material 114 from being blocked by thestopper 114 as it is inserted between the back plate 106 and the frontplate 102.

The holder 100 may be packaged as a kit having several front plates 102and several back plates 106 to allow for interchangeability. The frontplates 102 and back plates 106 can have different sizes and colors,including multi-colored, clear (transparent), or opaque for enabling theremoval of the front plate 104 and back plate 106 to be replaced withanother from the kit.

It is contemplated that the front plate 102 and the back plate 106 canhave varying sizes to enable size variations of the holder 100. That is,the vertical and horizontal dimension of the display area may varydepending on the size of the front plate 102 and back plate 106.

It will be appreciated that various presently unforeseen orunanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvementstherein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which arealso intended to be encompassed by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A holder for displaying a sheet of material, theholder comprising: a back plate; a front plate configured for beingremovably received by the back plate; a display area defined by thefront plate configured to display a sheet of material; and at least onestopper configured for being removably received within an opening of theback plate, wherein the at least one stopper is friction fit between thefront plate and the back plate.
 2. The holder according to claim 1,wherein the back plate includes a lip portion defining a track alongwhich the front plate is slidably received by the back plate.
 3. Theholder according to claim 1, wherein the back plate includes a backsurface configured for mounting to a support surface.
 4. The holderaccording to claim 2, wherein the at least one stopper makes frictioncontact with the lip portion and the front plate when the at least onestopper is friction fit between the front plate and the back plate. 5.The holder according to claim 1, wherein the at least one stopperprevents movement of the front plate when the at least one stopper isfriction fit between the front plate and the back plate.
 6. The holderaccording to claim 1, wherein the front plate includes a notch, andwherein the at least one stopper makes contact with an inner surface ofthe notch when the at least one stopper is friction fit within theholder.
 7. The holder according to claim 1, wherein the at least onestopper includes a groove for passage of the sheet of materialtherethrough.
 8. The holder according to claim 1, wherein an edge of thefront plate is aligned with an edge of the back plate when the frontplate is fully received within the back plate.
 9. The holder accordingto claim 1, wherein the sheet of material includes indicia thereon. 10.The holder according to claim 1, wherein the front plate issubstantially transparent.
 11. The holder according to claim 1, whereinthe front plate is a magnifying lens.
 12. The holder according to claim1, wherein the front plate is tinted.
 13. A kit for displaying a sheetof material, comprising: at least one back plate; a plurality of frontplates each configured for being removably received by the back plate; adisplay area defined by each front plate and configured to display asheet of material; and at least one stopper configured for beingremovably received within an opening of the back plate, wherein the atleast one stopper is friction fit between one of the plurality of frontplates and the back plate.
 14. The kit according to claim 13, whereinthe at least one back plate includes at least one back plate with afirst size and at least one back plate with a second size different fromthe first size.
 15. The kit according to claim 13, the plurality offront plates are provided in multiple sizes and different colors,including multi-color and clear, for enabling replacement thereof. 16.The kit according to claim 13, wherein the at least one back plateincludes a lip portion defining a track along which a front plate of theplurality of front plates is slidably received by the back plate. 17.The kit according to claim 13, wherein the back plate includes a backsurface configured for mounting to a support surface.
 18. The kitaccording to claim 16, wherein the at least one stopper makes frictioncontact with the lip portion and the front plate when the at least onestopper is friction fit between the front plate and the back plate. 19.The kit according to claim 16, wherein the at least one stopper preventsmovement of the front plate when the at least one stopper is frictionfit between the front plate and the back plate.
 20. The kit according toclaim 16, wherein the front plate includes a notch, and wherein the atleast one stopper makes contact with an inner surface of the notch whenthe at least one stopper is friction fit within the holder.